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Mirage Temple
The Mirage Temple is the only official temple of Meyrin in the Realms. It is located in the desert east of Oceanside, and moves based on the phases of the red moon. Description Gloom, I need a physical description of this thing, please. It's a good building. About The Mirage Temple moves about the desert, its location dependent upon the phases of its patron goddess. It is guarded by the Moon Clan, a clan of minotaurs that travel with the temple. It is a pilgrimage destination for those who wish to beseech Meyrin's help. Once every full moon a celebration is held at the temple. There are booths hosting games and selling food available, in addition to the tournament to seek an audience with Meyrin. The tournament consists of activities chosen by the participants. The winner of a coin toss chooses the category of challenge (i.e. combat) and the loser chooses the specific activity (i.e. swords). The winner of the challenge moves on to the next round until the winner is declared. The tournament is played in pairs until the final round, when the pair plays against each other; this was implemented in more recent years, while before it was single participants. The winner is then taken into the temple after the moon has risen, and led to her audience chamber in her realm through a door that can only be opened via a series of mirrors reflecting the moon's light. Meyrin rarely appears before the winners, but people continue to try every full moon regardless. Campaign One The party of campaign one ventured to the Mirage Temple in hopes of retrieving the Moon Pillar for Empress Elise. While traveling there via their airship, they came across a pair of Tabaxi being attacked. They rescued the pair — Ivkin and his daughter Selina — and brought them the rest of the way to the Mirage Temple. They were going to the Temple in hopes of finding a cure for a life-long ailment that would soon claim Selina's life. It was later revealed that it was hereditary, but had acted quicker on her than her mother and grandmothers. Ivkin had solicited the aid of a demon to prolong her life until they found a cure. Gadley made himself known while there, and the party defeated him, but not before he killed Onvaz and planted a small portion of himself in Selina. Unbeknownst to everyone, he had also left with Ivkin a vial containing a mind flayer larva, intending to use both of these as means of surviving his own death. Sah won a rag duck from a festival game. Onvaz revived, the party entered the competition to try to find a way into the temple and steal the Moon Pillar. In the first rounds Belxari defeated Tiffany in a display of musical prowess, and Sah defeated Onvaz in arm wrestling. The final round was Sah facing Belxari. Once again the chosen contest was one of music, which Belxari won handily. Belxari was taken to see Meyrin that night, and was surprised to find that the goddess chose to appear. The two discussed the matter of the boon she wished to receive. After some debate, Belxari requested a cure for the various ailments that Selina suffered from, both Gadley and the family illness. It was granted in the form of a vial containing a strange liquid, "a sort of liquid Wish spell." In addition, Meyrin granted further gifts to the party: Belxari, her new Champion, was given the Shard of Midnight, a magical longsword showing the night sky in the blade and a map for Sah showing the approximate locations of the Icons of Sin. The party left shortly after. Campaign Two The party of campaign two traveled to the Mirage Temple to find the next portion of the halberd. Renn and Squire paired up and Kiono and Teer teamed up to take on the tournament. Kiono and Teer created sculptures from wood using wood as tools and "putting things in other things." Lei and Squire won an ethics debate and something else. Both pairs made it to the final round, which, after much debate, was decided to be a round of Sky Elven manners. A judge was chosen from the crowd, a Sky Elf named something. Teer and Kiono easily won, with Squire intentionally discarding any form of manners while Teer acted as was expected of warforged. Teer deferred ultimate victory to Kiono. Meyrin appeared then, taking the halberd from Kiono and telling the party to enter the temple to retrieve it. Inside, the party experienced several puzzle rooms before being split up, each experiencing their own personal trial. Teer's trial took the form of his former master Faethyn Tal'Tessil instructing him not to intervene as the party fought, and was slowly overcome by, a dragon. Vale was faced with herself sitting atop a throne comprised of her friends, family, and companions. She was allowed to leave when she determined she would stop using these people for her own gain. Kiono was not faced with an outright trial beyond perhaps surviving without the halberd. This was the first time Kiono was present in a fight rather than Ephemera. The party reunited slowly, finally making it to Meyrin's audience chamber, where Squire had been taken to watch all of this unfold. Squire's trial was to test his understanding of his vows and purpose; he was also instructed to sit by while his friends fought the beast to restore the halberd. The beast was destroyed without his intervention, but he ultimately failed his trial. The second orb of the halberd retrieved, the party departed the Mirage Temple. Trivia * During the round between Tiffany and Belxari, Tiffany used a fake violin he had created, then "played" via mimicry. Belxari, when handed the fake instrument, decided to play it anyway. Both players rolled natural 20s on their performance checks, with Belxari winning due to her higher Charisma score.